The Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World

A fun literary goal I'd like to set for myself is to visit some of the most beautiful bookshops in the world. Here I share pictures, discuss some I've been to and other gorgeous bookshops I'm hoping to visit one day. Click ‘Show More’ for info & links.

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Bookshops discussed:

Lello Bookstore, Porto, Portugal

Cook & Book, Brussels, Belgium

Carturesti Carusel, Bucharest, Romania

Boekhandel Dominicanen, Maastricht, Netherlands

Desperate Literature, Madrid, Spain

Bart's Books, Ojai, California, USA

Livraria da Vila, São Paulo, Brazil

Libreria Acqua Alta, Venice, Italy

Pro qm, Berlin, Germany

Shakespeare & Company, Paris, France

Cafebrería El Péndulo, Mexico City, Mexico

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Get in touch

[ataliax]

I live in Mexico City and I love El Péndulo, beautiful places to spend the time.

[vincentf]

Barter books in Alnwick is worth visiting. Pretty cool bookstore in a former train station. Great video! Thanks.

[GraemeBell]

When in Scotland visit Leakey's Bookshop in Inverness. It's amazing.

[AnaWallaceJohnson]

Eric, love this so much. I’m of the opinion traveling & books go hand in hand. Happy to add some new dream destinations to my list

[bookofdust]

One of my favorites was a little jewel box of a store called The Biography Book Store on Bleeker and 11th street in the Village in NYC, right across the street from Magnolia Bakery. There was also a park nearby so you’d get a book, cupcake and coffee and read in the park on a nice day. They got priced out, but miraculously the designer Marc Jacobs bought the space and opened a store called Bookmarc with an emphasis of books on art and fashion. Not exactly the same, but at least it still exists as a bookstore and has a lovely curated selection to fit the small space.

Off the beaten path is one called The Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It’s in a cavernous space with great murals and has antiquarian collections as well as new books as well. There’s a cafe and an impressive calendar of events with local and national authors. The owner actually became the mayor of Harrisburg a few years back. Definitely a bright spot and and amazing find in an out of the way place that is unexpected.

[karencamer]

What a great video Eric. I haven’t been to any of the bookshops mentioned but I have been to El Ateneo in Buenos Aires which is glorious and there is another pretty quirky one in Santorini called Atlantis Books. Maybe you can add these to your list . The shop in Portugal looks stunning. One day!!

[literaturewhispersasmr]

It's on the more small and quirky side, but I fell in love with Word on the Water in London (King's Cross) recently 💕📖 Who wouldn't love a bookshop on a canal barge!

[michaeldornan]

That was super fun. I have visited Lello in Porto and Carturesti in Bucharest, which are both beautiful. The other bookshop that I loved was El Ateneo in Buenos Aires, which is a former theatre. The café is on the stage... A real thrill.

[andyiswonderful]

I can't say that I've ever been inside any bookshop that was as wonderful as these you've shown here. Thanks.

One funky bookshop I like is Farley's Bookshop in New Hope, Pennsylvania.

[lesliebiglari]

I visited Shakespeare and Co. in Paris several years ago, and I would say it is the most beautiful bookstore I've ever been to. This was a fun video - very inspiring!

[art_and_bibliophilia]

Hi Eric, if you're ever in Lisbon, you must check out Livraria Ler Devagar :)
Lello in Porto is gorgeous. They had to start charging a fee because the lines to get in just got insanely long and not everyone goes in to buy or browse books. You get the money back if you do buy a book though, which I think it's fair :)

[nataliaweissfeld]

If you go to Buenos Aires, Argentina you can visit El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a bookstore in what used to be a theatre, and Eterna Cadencia, another beautiful place to buy books and have a coffee. Cheers!

[cherylynlarking]

So inspirational. Let's hope the world opens up again to enable travel to see most of these.

[adelab]

Hello! I live in Bucharest. Indeed, Carturesti Carousel is an amazing bookshop. Thank you for talking about us 🙂

[lisalantrip]

I've been to Libreria aqua alta and Bart's Books! Both were amazing. I would love to visit all of these stores. Ojai and Venice are two of my favorite places, too. 😊

[josebenito]

Unlucky of me I spent some days in Oporto without knowing of that beautiful Book Shop and I also went to Inverness without knowing of that Majesty Book Shop either! But in Paris I had great pleasure visiting Shakespeare's English Books. I really enjoyed watching your Video. Stay Safe and Greetings from Spain 🟥🟥

[olafkeith]

If you are ever in Berlin, the Ocelot bookstore is well worth visiting (one of the most famous independent bookstores in all of Germany), and also Dussmann, which is probably the biggest, a huge place of books with a great English bookshop too!

[jacquelinemcmenamin]

You will have to come visit the bookstore that won the best of the year (in the An Post awards)in Ireland. It’s in Galway. However there are some wonderful book shops in Donegal, Derry and Dublin.

[amena]

What a wonderful video Eric ! I hope you will come again to Shakespeare and Co in Paris. I love the bouquinistes all along the Seine. I am looking forward to your next upload !

[cindyhaiken]

Absolutely breathtaking bookshops. What a wonderful video. The only one of these I’ve been to is Shakespeare & Company, but I am definitely putting the bookstore in Belgium on my list. That looks fascinating. The most beautiful bookstore I’ve ever been in is the long-gone-away Scribners bookstore on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, very near Rockefeller Center, followed by the smaller, dark wood-paneled and incredibly atmospheric Books & Co on Madison Avenue in the mid-70s in Manhattan, sadly also long gone. The memories, luckily, linger.